The apple doesn't fall far from the tree
by xfmoon
Summary: What it all came down to was that they were actually doomed from the start, and they didn't even know it. - An AU backstory of a kind.


**A/N: **This is totally AU, and so strange, I have no idea why I wrote it. I guess you could call it a prequel to The Mentalist, or at least some kind of a background story.

**Disclaimer:** Love is a strange concept that I don't own, neither do I own The Mentalist, I only own my love for the show.

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What it all came down to was that they were actually doomed from the start, and they didn't even know it. It had to be some kind of weird genetic attraction at work.

Mary was so much in love it was hard for her to actually believe it herself. Mostly because of the circumstances. She was married to a nice man and a mother of four, the youngest only 6 months old. But things hadn't been going good lately. For a long time she had been writing it off as the ups and downs of family life. But she'd finally had enough. And as luck would have it she'd met someone. He was nice and charming, and so unlike her husband. That was why she'd decided that she was going to leave him. It was going to be hard on the kids though, but they would grow to understand... eventually. Or at least she hoped so. She was in love, it wasn't just some passing thing.

**xXx**

Alex's wife had been dead for a few years, and he hadn't really expected to fall in love again, but it had happened. The only problem was that she was married, however she said she was going to leave him and he believed her. It had been such a whirlwind and all they'd ever really done at this point was kiss. Ever since their first meet they had been hanging out, going for long walks and talking for hours on end. Just enjoying each other's company.

He had always wanted a lot of kids, but the unfortunate demise of his wife had left him with only one son, whom he loved dearly, but there was nothing like siblings to teach you about the world. And the world - or rather its population - was their business after all. So he was thrilled at the fact that soon his son was going to have siblings to play with.

**xXx**

They had met at the carnival. Mary had needed some time away from her husband, so she'd taken the children on a little outing there. The oldest and the twins had scurried off to the Ferris wheel immediately with the promise of being careful, stick together, and minding strangers. On a whim she had taken her baby boy to the psychic show tent. It was pretty impressive but she'd had a lot on her mind so she hadn't really paid that much attention to what had been going on. Plus the baby had been fuzzy, and as the good mother she was, she had to tend to his needs first. Eventually he'd fallen asleep while she was rocking him, and so without thinking she'd just continued with her task, humming faintly to the sleeping baby in her arms, while tears involuntary rolled down her rosy cheeks. And that's how he found her, staring out into space, looking at nothing concrete while the problems in her mind swirled endlessly around and around. She had been so caught up that she hadn't noticed the show had long since ended.

He came over to her, crouched down, touched her shoulder and asked her if she was okay. Only then did she look up. And as soon as their eyes met, she saw and she knew. And so did he. It was so cliché, love at first sight, like being struck by lightning. But that's what happened. After that day they met whenever their schedules allowed. She felt so guilty, and the guilt only worsened over time. And time was working against them. The carnival was going to pull up stakes very soon, move to another city, and then another and another, and then she might never see him again. And that was why they had decided to leave. Leave their jobs, the comfort of their routines, their families and start anew. Get a big house somewhere just outside the city so her kids could come and stay as often as they wanted. They were in love and this was their plan.

**xXx**

She hadn't told her family yet. The shame weighed on her shoulders and so she kept telling herself that the time just hadn't been right. Her husband worked long hours at the fire station and slept whenever she came home from work. And the children was so young, she couldn't bear to break their hearts. So she took the chicken's road out and wrote a long letter, explaining how their love had faded, and she'd met somebody else, how much she loved the children and would always be there for them, but this was something she had to do for her, she then resumed by setting it on top of the dresser for her husband to find.

Alex hadn't told his son yet. Mostly because love had never come easy to him. And this kind of love was so strong and overwhelming, too good to be true really and it made him feel a little like drowning. He was scared! As soon as she was here... to stay... permanently, they would tell his son together.

**xXx**

As the day dawned - the children were at school, kindergarten and daycare, their dad was picking them up - she took her bag and car keys walked out the door, looked back at the house for a minute before she got into the car and drove off in the direction of the carnival camp grounds.

They had agreed to meet at the southeast end of the grounds. There was a little bench there situated just under an old oak tree, which had seen its fair share of romantic endeavors.

He waited patiently at first, but after the first hour had ticked away and she still hadn't showed up a feeling of unrest settled in him. He kept checking his watch and the road, watch, road, watch, road... nothing. Another hour went by, and she was still in no show. Something inside of him broke and hardened. He had been ready to leave for her, and she hadn't even had the decency to show up and tell him she'd changed her mind. That she'd chosen her family over him. That's what he got from putting his heart on the line, for opening up and exposing himself to another human being. Well it was going to be the last time anyone took him for a fool.

**xXx**

As John and the kids came home, no one answered the yell for mommy. John found the letter and as he read it his fists clenched tighter and tighter around the offending worded object until his knuckles turned white and the paper crumbled in his hands. Anger and frustration sizzled to the surface. The next chain of events unfolded so quickly and unexpectedly that it seemed like a dream. Teresa came into the room and told him there were two policemen at the door and they were asking for him. Alarmed he went down and sure enough found two officers being admirably gawked at by his son's while waiting to talk to him.

As a firefighter he'd seen the grave faces they wore before. The severity dawned on him and he send the kids out of the room before talking to them. The anger he'd felt a minute ago evaporated as they told him there'd been an accident and his wife had been killed. A head on collision with a drunk driver, who had walked away without a scratch. Sorrow overtook his body and he wept, he had loved his wife despite their ups and downs..., and the kids... what was he gonna do?

When the police left another feeling crept in like a snake in paradise. She had had it coming, she deserved to die for what she'd been planning to do to them, for what she'd been planning to do to _him_. But as soon as that thought hit him another one followed..., one of shame and regret for feeling what he did..., for blaming her for her own death. He felt like a terrible person. He'd driven her away, and now she was death. He'd robbed his children of their mother. He decided right then and there that he was never going to tell them about what their mother had been about to do, the fact that she had willingly and purposefully abandoned them. Being dead was bad enough, they didn't deserve to suffer more for all of their parent's character flaws. He had been unable to keep her happy and satisfied, and she had strayed. He'd failed as a husband and a father. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge, took a big swig and prepared himself to tell his kids that their mother was not coming home ever again.

**xXx**

Alex Jane had always been tough, and it had only gotten worse after Patrick's mother had died. Looking back however Patrick seemed to recall a small period of time when they'd been staying in Chicago where his dad had seemed lighter, happier even, and to this day he'd yet to have any sensible explanation for the occurrence. But it had been short lived, one day out of the blue and equally as surprising as his mood had turned for the better it turned back around full force and somehow he seemed to be worse off than ever. A wicked man that was how Patrick remembered his father. And the day he escaped the carnie life with Angela was not a day too late.

Alex was secretly pleased that his son had found love and gotten out. It was something he'd never managed to do. He'd been bitter for many years due to being abandoned by love... twice - first his wife, then Mary - that was until he'd randomly learned about the car accident that had taken Mary's life, she'd been on her way to meet him, and she had died, all alone, in the middle of a street, in a limbo between the life she had lived and the life she was going to live. There was nothing he could do about it now, the bitterness had long since taken hold of his soul and become such an ingrained part of him that he couldn't shake it off again, even if he wanted to. So he settled for being happy for his son, although the latter would never acknowledge him as being part of his life.

**xXx**

They might not admit it to themselves or to each other at the moment but the first time Teresa Lisbon and Patrick Jane met, they both felt something. Something that words can't thoroughly describe in any depth. Now it wasn't really the time nor the place, for anything to happen between them, but there was the faintest of possibilities, that maybe someday in the future, once they'd figured things out, something incredible might happen between them.

Put it down to divine intervention, genetics or the signs in the stars, but these two families seemed to have been on a collision course for quite some time, and somehow always ending up leaving chaos in their wake. Like magnets they attracted the other, had a sort of a gravitational pull strong enough to create a black hole that either led to certain destruction or to the entrance into a new world. There was a delicate balance between the two, so they had to be careful and tread lightly if they didn't want to end up with a broken heart or worse in the future.

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**A/N:** Since we don't know the name of Teresa's parents I just called them Mary and John (I know very common boring names - I apologize to anybody called that who are reading this :-)) And according to IMDB Jane's dad is named Alex, I don't remember anyone calling him that in the epi, but oh well.

And the ending sucks, I tend to go all philosophical when I don't know what to write.


End file.
